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AN 



ADDRESS 



TO THE 



PEOPLE OF MARYLAND, 



B y 



WILLIAM H. COLLINS, 



OF B A L T I M R E. 



BALTIMORE: 

PRINTED BY JAMES YOUNG, 

lU WEST BALTIMORE STREET. 

1861. 




E4- 
»C1 



iN SXCHA^NQft 



I trust the condition of })ulDlic affairs will secure your par- 
don for the language I venture to address to you on the mo- 
mentous questions which agitate the public mind. My life, 
and the lives of those from whom I sprung, have been passed 
on your soil. Though I have never sought office at your 
hands, or at those of the General Government, I trust I need 
not say to those of you who know me, that my whole circle 
of influence (small as it may have been) has been in favor 
of the welftire and continuance of the Union of the States, 
and of the Avelfare and honor of the State of Maryland. 

If asked whether I love the Union or the State of Mary- 
land most, my reply is prompt and frank. I love the Union 
most. Born under the Union — my heart has leapt at that 
glorious name from the earliest recollections of my childhood 
to the frosty years of an age which, though it has impaired 
my health and activity, has not diminished the intensity of 
the love I bear my country. Her glory, her honor, her 
power, her union, her happiness and welfare, now and for- 
ever, are dearer to me than life. As a bright gem set in the 
bosom of this glorious Union, Maryland has my strong and 
loyal affections. I have watched her prosperity with the 
fondest solicitude from my earliest life, and yet I say to you 
I love the Union more than Maryland. 

If I wished to recall to your recollection the Triumvirate 
in my own day which has stood most deeply rooted in the 
American heart, I need hardly pronounce the names of Jack- 
son, Clay and Webster. Each diflPering from the others, they 



4 An Addrefs to the 

stood before their country the unflinching supporters of our 
glorious Union. Each and all of them loomed up before the 
country as the colossal guardians of the Union of the States 
forever. Differing on other questions, on this they agreed. 
If any one say that Jackson, or Clay, or Webster, ever placed 
his devotion to the continuance of the Union on an {f or a 
hut, or a contingency , let him produce the proof. No such 
proof exists. The most confidential conversations of the 
Hermitage and of Ashland, and of Marshfield, never whis- 
pered a thought disloyal to the perpetuity of our Union ; but 
were full of that deep and undying love which such great 
hearts only feel for the country which gave them life, and 
for the welfare and honor of which they deliglited to employ 
the high gifts nature bestowed on them in her bounty. 

About thirty years ago threats of resistance to tlie laws 
of the country startled the ears of many for the first time 
who are still in the vigor of life. That deep seated love of 
country which was the strongest feeling in the breast of An- 
drew Jackson, honored, aided and shared by Daniel Webster 
and Henry Clay, averted the dire calamity then threatened. 
For Ihe conduct of these three illustrious men on this trying 
occasion, the country owes an eternal debt of gratitude. It 
has pointed out a path to their successors, Avhich, if followed, 
leads to glory and renown. Never, on any occasion has the 
heart of this great country beat more freely than in the ap- 
proval it gave to the firm and wise measures then pursued. 

In eighteen hundred and fifty the cry of resistance was 
again raised in consequence of the dissatisfaction of some por- 
tions of the country with the Compromise Measures so ably 
proposed and carried under the lead of Henry Clay and Daniel 
Webster. Fortunately this was stifled in the j)laces where 
it begun. 

No more was heard of the cry of disunion until the wicked 
and miserable raid of John Brown. Efibrts were then made 
to use this attempt as the basis of another disunion move- 
ment. Fortunately, however, the country saw that the raid 
of John Brown was as utterly powerless and unsuccessful as 



People of Maryland. 5 

it was wicked and traitorous ; and the whole affair was pro- 
perly turned over to the courts and the hangman as the best 
and wisest termination of that most insane adventure. 

In eighteen hundred and sixty an election for the Presi- 
dency occurred under the provisions of the Constitution. A 
conservative portion of the country North and South pre- 
sented the name of an eminent Southern statesman for the 
Presidency , and of an equally eminent Northern statesman for 
the Vice-Presidency. The Democratic party failed to agree, 
and the result was, that party divided and two sets of can- 
didates were presented hy it. The Republican party made 
its nominations also. 

It is extremely probable, if not absolutely certain, if the 
Democratic party had presented but one set of candidates, 
and those known to be conservative and union men, reliable 
and true, that those candidates would have been elected. In 
that event it is equally certain that under high patriotic mo- 
tives a very large portion of the votes given to the statesmen 
of Tennessee and Massachusetts would have been cast for the 
Democratic nominees. 

On the other hand, I deem it perfectly certain, if the Dem- 
ocratic party, finding itself unable to agree on candidates of 
its own, had agreed to adopt tlie nomination already before 
the country, of the distinguished statesmen of Tennessee and 
Massachusetts — that in that event John Bell and Edward 
Everett would now be the President and Vice-President elect 
of this great country. The truth is, and it should be kept 
in view always, that the Republican party has succeeded not 
by its own strength, but by the divisions of its opponents. 
It stood as a unit whilst its opponents were divided amongst 
three sets of candidates. Its triumph and their defeat were 
just as certain at the beginning as at the close of the contest. 

What then must be the surprise and condemnation of the 
Union-loving and Law-abiding citizens of the State of Mary- 
land when they kftSethecries of secession, rebellion, dis- 
union, borne upon the winds in strains louder, fiercer, and 
more appalling than when they struck the ear of Andrew 



6 An Addrefs to the 

Jackson and roused his lion heart to resolve that "The Union, 
It must he preserved." Why these cries? What reason is 
assigned for them ? The election of Abraham Lincoln is the 
cause assigned. This is strange, passing strange, when it is 
remembered tliat these ominous cries come from the Sunny 
South — which in fact secured Mr. Lincoln's election through 
divisions created by herself. The Soutli might, if she had 
so pleased, have defeated Mr. Lincoln by nominating either 
Bell or Douglas. It seems she preferred the election of Lin- 
coln to either ; for to put her candidate in the field was to 
insure the success of the Republican nominees. 

I desire to place before you, citizens of Maryland, some of 
tiie horrible results which must flow from your abandonment 
of the Union and going off into a new government with no 
matter whom. I Avish to show you that the ancient and uni- 
form fidelity of the people of Maryland to the Union, is not 
the result only of a lofty patriotism — which I trust will be 
immortal with you and your descendants — but that your 
safety, your freedom, your very existence depend on the con- 
tinuance of that Union "now and forever, one and insepa- 
rable." 

I do not deny that various States at the North have passed 
laws tn violation of our constitutional rights, and of the sacred 
obligations they owe to our common country. I do not deny 
that those States owe it to our common brotherhood — to the 
clear provisions of the Constitution, and to the most sacred 
ties which bind them to their country — to repeal those laws. 
I do not deny that you have suffered from those laws in loss 
of your property — more, probably manifold more, than all 
the cotton States of the South. All this you know full well, 
and have waited patiently and patriotically for the returning 
reason and honor of the North to do you justice. And 3'et 
under these wrongs, good, honest, brave, dear old Maryland, 
has never dreamed of breaking u£^oi^r^^rious Union. She 
has trusted, and still trusts, to thepatriotfg^i, the justice and 
the honor of the Northern States for the repeal of all laws 
passed by them inconsistent with the clear provisions of the 



People of Maryland. 7 

Constitution of the United States. This trust, I am sure, 
will, at no distant day, be redeemed and justified. 

People of Maryland, if you are asked " What is the Union 
worth?" would you not with one outburst reply, It is a 
thing to love ; it is a thing to worship, if anything deserves 
such liomage except the great God wlio rules the world. Its 
eagle, its stars, and its stripes, have ever been proudly borne 
before the nations of the earth. They have often been bap- 
tised in blood upon the land and upon the sea — but never 
dislionored. That ensign is known throughout the world, 
and in every clime the name American ensures respect. 
Born under the Union, we have shared its countless bless- 
ings. Come what may, we mean to abide in it and by 
it. If others leave it we will stand by it. We devote 
ourselves and our children, and our children's children 
to its maintenance, now and forever. So long as Ameri-. 
can blood flows in American veins, we pray and beseech 
the great ruler of the world to give our countrymen courage, 
devotion, patriotism and strength, to uidiold the sacred ban- 
ner of our liberties on every land and on every sea Avhere it 
may be unfurled, with a firm resolve never to allow a Star to 
be struck from its ensign — but to upliold and maintain and 
defend our American Union against every foe. 

Such, people of Maryland, I am sure would be your answer. 

I now propose to present to you what would be your con- 
dition if in any mad hour you abandon your present resting 
place in the bosom of the Union, and make Mason and Dixon's 
line, which separates you from Pennsylvania, the Northern 
boundary of the new government into which you would enter. 

It seems to me too clear for question, that the government 
of the North, which, no doubt, would continue under the 
present Constitution and with the present name of the ' 'United 
States of America," would be superior in maritime power to 
that of the South into which you are sup[)osed to have entered. 
What then would be your condition ? Look at the map of 
your State — you will find there a straiglit line of about two 
hundred miles separating you from Pennsylvania. That line 



8 An Addrefs to the 

is purely artificial, and can be defended only by your keep- 
ing a superior military force ready to take the field, trained 
and equipped for battle. On that line a rapid march of one 
or two hours would reach the Potomac at Cumberland. The 
possession of Cumberland by an enemy would cut off your 
coal fields on which a large part of your people depend for 
fuel— and would stop all trade and traffic on your principal 
railroad west of Cumberland. 

Your State is also divided by the Chesapeake Bay into two 
portions of unequal size, and if the North would, as she must, 
be the superior maritime power, she could by a few vessels 
of war command the Chesapeake Bay, control the mouth of 
the Patapsco, seal up the port of Baltimoi-e, and prevent aid 
or communication from the one shore to the other. 

On the Western Shore your State gradually narrows, with- 
out a single military point, to the mouth of the Potomac, 
where that noble stream meets the Chesapeake Bay. The 
tide-water of the Potomac extends a mile or so above George- 
town — below which is a noble stream incapable of being 
forded. If your brethren at the South were to send an army 
to defend you, no military man at the head of that army 
would ever allow himself to be placed in front of an enemy 
below the tide-waters of the Potomac. The first point in mili- 
tary strategy is to secure a safe retreat in the event of mis- 
fortune. This rule would imperiously demand that he should 
never allow himself to be forced below the tides, and in the 
event of defeat, he would be forced to cross the upper waters of 
the Potomac and to leave Maryland to her fate. 

Your commercial emporium is within some tliirty miles of 
this defenceless northern border without any obstruction to 
the march of an enemy except the brave hearts of Maryland 
Sons. Your white population is about six hundred thousand 
—and you would thus be brought face to face with a govern- 
ment, three of whose States nearest to you, Pennsylvania, 
New York and Ohio, contain a white population of near ten 
millions of people— to say nothing of other great and power- 
ful States of the supposed Northern government. 

Should you enter into a new confederacy of the South the 



People of Maryland. 9 

first thing you would have to do would be to drive the General 
Grovernment out of Washington. I take it for granted that 
the government of the North would still claim to be, and bear 
the title of the "United States of America," acting under 
and governed by the present Constitution. Think you that 
this powerful government would slink away like a whipped 
hound, at your bidding, and retire from the prestige and ad- 
vantages it would enjoy from exercising its functions at our 
present Capital ? Never ! If human nature can ever be read 
in advance, I repeat it, never ! 

If you attempt to drive the President, elected according to 
the forms of the Constitution, from the place assigned him 
by that Constitution for the exercise of his high functions, 
think you that the teeming millions of the North would not 
rush to the rescue of the government ? The North may be 
slow to anger, but the gallant Southron may well look to 
his numbers, his armor, and his strength, when he meets 
the slower and cooler courage of the North fairly roused into 
action. 

People of Maryland, if you ever desert our present Union, 
remember that the cession of the District of Columbia to the 
General Government has left you no retreat except what you 
can hew with your swords. Your secession from the present 
Union is to close the gates of the Capitol and to refuse to 
allow Congress or the President to enter. It would be to 
surround the District of Columbia by a Foreign State. To 
do this would be to leave those who would still be in the 
estimation of the world the ' ' United States of America ' ' to 
abandon the Capital, and surrender the archives of the Gov- 
ernment and the noble buildings erected for its use, or to 
fight to maintain them. Can you question the choice? Can 
you doubt it ? It is the same blood that flows in the veins 
of the North as of the South ; and who ever knew Anglo- 
Saxon blood that did not know how to look calmly at the 
flash of the sword ! If that blood has been partly crossed 
by the German, the Scotch, the Irish, and the French, do 
you not know that those races have been up with the fore- 



lO An Addrefs to the 

most in a thousand hattle fiekls ? During our Revolution, it 
was a son of New England who nohly declared, when placed 
at the head of the Southern army, "I will re-conquer South 
Carolina or perish in the attempt ;" and he did it. Courage 
is a quality that belongs to our country — to the North as 
well as the South, to the East as well as the West. 

But suppose you succeed in driving the General Govern- 
ment out of Washington. What then ? Created and sup- 
ported hy the patronage of the General Government, it might 
revert to you as the original grantor. But wliat would it 
become ? Would it not be a waste and a ruin ? What 
would be the effect of the destruction of the city of Washing- 
ton on the adjoining counties of Maryland bordering on the 
Potomac? Just sucli, or nearly such, as the destruction of 
Baltimore would produce on the value of property in Balti- 
more county and other counties adjacent thereto. What 
would be the value of your railroad to Washington, now the 
most profitable of all our State investments ? 

If the city of Washington is to become a waste and crumb- 
ling ruin, may my eyes never again rest on the noble pile 
devoted to the government of our country ! May I never 
again behold the lofty monument being erected to the memory 
of the Father of his Country ! May my feet never hereafter 
tread the sacred soil of Mount Vernon ! No ! Before you 
destroy the Constitution and the Union, which are the true 
monuments of Washington's glory, let Virginia take his 
sacred ashes and commit them to the pure stream of the Po- 
tomac. Let Maryland destroy the lofty shaft on which 
stands the peerless form of the mighty dead ! Let Congress 
demolish the still loftier shaft now rising to his memory on 
the banks of the Potomac, and order the return of every 
block of marble which has been contributed by Foreign States 
in honor of his name, with the frank acknowledgment that 
his countrymen are not worthy to beliold a pile erected to 
his honor, because they have repudiated the work of his 
hands and broken to pieces the Government of Liberty and 
Law which he devoted his life to construct. 



People of Maryland. ii 

If Maryland were to join a new government of the South 
— I put it, people of Maryland, to your better judgment — 
liow long would she remain a Slave State ? With no right 
to demand from the North the surrender of the fugitive slave, 
except under a Union and Constitution which she is sup- 
posed to have abandoned, and witli the certainty that her 
soil would either be occupied by an enemy, or else be the 
battle field in all contests, wars and invasions by the North 
this side of the AUeghenies, would not policy, would not 
interest, would not safety, force those of you who own slaves 
to send them South for security, where the labor of the slave 
has long been more profitable than with you ? Under these 
circumstances would you not in a year or two, of necessity, 
cease to be slave owners ? And v/hat would be your condi- 
tion as a Free State in alliance with the Slave States of the 
South ? Would they trust you ? Would they love you ? 
V/ould they treat you as their equal ? I leave the answer 
to your calm and deliberate judgement. 

There is another matter I feel bound to state to you — 
though I do it with the deepest regret. I have the strongest 
conviction that the cotton States, if they throw off their 
allegiance to the Greneral Government, intend to form a gov- 
ernment of their own, and to refuse to pass any laws jirolii- 
l)iting the African slave trade, and thus, indirectly at least, 
to sanction that terrible traffic. This they well know would 
never be agreed to b}' North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, 
Kentuchy, Tennessee and Missouri. I repeat, they well 
know that the reopening of the slave trade would be resisted 
to the last extremity by the grain growing States I have 
named. The dreams of the seceders of the cotton States 
look to far richer acquisitions and associations^ to be formed 
out of the provinces of Mexico and Central America, and 
perchance of some of the West India' islands, to be cultivated 
by hundreds of thousands of freshly and cheaply imported 
slaves from the coast of Africa. The grain growing States 
of the South would be more valuable to them as a friendly 
barrier against the North, as Mr. Yancey has frankly ad- 

L««fC 



12 An Addrefs to the 

mitted in his famous letter to Slaughter. This is the true 
service to be rendered by the grain-growing States of the 
South to the cotton States. Beyond this the cotton States 
have interests and plans inconsistent with their union with 
you — unless you submit to terms dictated by them. 

In the event of secession by Maryland, what would Delaware 
do ? She is a small State, it is true, but her course would 
be of the greatest importance to Maryland in -her new asso- 
ciations, as the refusal of Delaware to go with us would add 
more than one hundred miles of free border to our State. 
Delaware has now less than two thousand slaves — a number 
scarce equal to that of single individuals in the South. Bor- 
dering on the Delaware river and bay for the larger and 
richer part of her State, Delaware is bound to Pennsylvania 
by all the ties of commercial, political and social interests. 
She has no heavy stake in slavery, and in a few years^ under 
any circumstances, will become a free State. This result 
would follow almost immediately if she were to go with the 
South, for reasons similar, but still stronger, than those which 
would press on Maryland. If she remain in the Union under 
the present Constitution, she would be protected (as would 
Maryland also be, under a similar course) by the guarantees 
of that Constitution as to her slave property — the passing off 
of which would, in that event, be scarcely accelerated in 
either State. Delaware was the first State to accept the 
Constitution, and I doubt not that her patriotism, her duty, 
as also her interests, Avill keep her steady at her post. If 
Maryland secedes, she must count on two hundred miles of 
free border separating lier from Pennsylvania, and a hundred 
miles of free border, soon to be, separating her from Dela- 
ware. 

People of Maryland — what is this right of a State to secede 
from the Union? Have you held it in former days, or your 
fathers before you ? Has it not been denied by a vast ma- 
jority of the powerful intellects of our country — of her best 
and ablest statesmen ? Whether it assume the form of nul- 
lification or secession, is it not rebellion? The noblest ora- 



People of Maryland. 13 

tor of our country, iu the finest passage lie ever uttered, 
said : " For the gentleman to speak of nullification, and yet 
say that he would stop short of secession, rebellion, disunion, 
is as if he were to take the leap of Niagara and cry out that 
he would stop half way down." If secession means rebellion 
I understand it. If that rebellion fail, it is treason. If it 
succeed, it is revolution. This I also understand. Rebel- 
lion and revolution are ancient words, and have often been 
enacted under all the forms of government in the world. I 
deny, and the vast majority of you have always denied, any 
other mode of breaking up our government than by resort- 
ing to these ancient modes, which, for intolerable oppression, 
have been practised throughout the world. 

To the extent of the powers possessed by the General Gov- 
ernment, under the Constitution, she is a unit — as much so 
as any government in the woild. She can be destroyed only 
as other governments may be destroyed. If she be guilty of 
oppression and abuse we have, under the Constitution, the 
courts, the ballot-box, and the system of checks and balances 
growing out of the different construction of our Senate and 
House of Representatives. If these fail, outside of the Con- 
stitution, if the grievance be intolerable, and no other hope 
left, we have the universal right of rebellion. These are 
our safeguards, and I have the strong assurance that without 
resorting to the last terrible remedy, the former will, in the 
end, prove sufficient to secure all our rights. 

Maryland has no more right to secede from the Union than 
Florida, or Louisiana, or California. The rights of all the 
States, old and new, are equal. This is the admitted doc- 
trine. Shall Florida, or Louisiana, or California have the 
right to secede from the Union on the ground of State sov- 
ereigntj^, or of reserved state rights ? We bought the first 
two with the money of the General Government, and Cali- 
fornia we acquired by the old fashioned process of conquest. 
All that these three States have — their lands and all their 
rights — they got from the Government of the L^nited States. 
I admit they are equal to the old States, and no more ; and 



14 An Addrefs to the 

the old States are etjual to them, and no more. But surely a 
right of secession cannot he claimed by any one of the three 
States named ; and if not by them — it cannot be claimed by 
any other State, because all the States are equal. 

I have heard much for some years past about the sovereign 
States of this Union. It is the fashion of the day to speak 
of our States as sovereign; though it is conceded that a State 
cannot have an army or a navy, or declare war or mahe peace, 
or make a treaty with a foreign power or with another State, 
or have ambassadors, or lay duties on imports, or coin money, 
or pass any laws in violation of the Constitution of the United 
States or the acts of Congress passed pursuant thereto. Tbe 
several States, no doubt, have reserved all rights of legisla- 
tion, &c., which have not been granted to the General Gov- 
ernment. But is it not an abuse of language to call the State 
sovereign f I call your attention to this view because I 
believe the contrary doctrine has prevented the enforcement 
of the Fugitive Slave Law by the strong hand of the national 
power. Tlie States most deeply intei'csted in the execution 
of that law have, for many years, had the executive of the 
country of their own selection ; but tliey were unwilling to 
enforce the law against the clearly void legislation of North- 
ern States, because, forsooth, the same results might be 
brouglit home to themselves, in regard to void legislation of 
a different description. The truth is, the General Govern- 
ment should enforce, if necessary, with the wliole power 
of the Union, all its laws passed in pursuance of the provis- 
ions of the Constitution, in the North and in the South, in 
the East and. in the West, without regard to the laws of any 
State passed in contravention thereof. This is the ancient 
doctrine — it is the true doctrine. 

It seems strange that the question of slavery in the Ter- 
ritories should at present convulse our country throughout 
its vast area ; when, in trutli, we liave no Teriitories in which 
slavery ever will or can exist. Why should the North press 
this question, when it is certain that all the present Territo- 
ries will be free, no matter what the legislation on the subject 



People of Maryland. 15 

of slavery ? Ami why should the South take the Territorial 
question so niuch to heart when we have no Territory fitted 
for her institutions ? Climate and ])roduction will settle this 
question. We have no Territories fitted for the production 
of cotton, sugar and rice. Without tliese, or some of these 
products, slavery will never plant itself in a new country. 
With these products it will be sure to go, no matter what 
the legislation. Why then these angry feuds? Is it because 
we may acquire other Territory fitted for slavery ? Rather 
than have these feuds — these threats of rebellion — let us close 
the boundaries of the Republic and resolve to acquire no more. 

The peaceful breaking up of this great government with- 
out a struggle to maintain it, would be a miracle. It can 
never be. Whence tlien would come the sinews of war — 
money ? If the government were to divide on Mason and 
Dixon's line and ^le Ohio, and a contest ensues, would not 
the Southerrf^SiiB require during the war a vast annual out- 
lay — of some fifty or sixty millions of dollars at least? 
Besides the ordinary expenses of government, she would 
have to create navies and armies, and maintain them at a 
war-point. The States of the South only could borrow mo- 
ney, for the government of the South vrould be unknown, 
and unrecognized by the capital of the Avorld. Some of the 
largest and strongest of the Southern States have already, in 
their efforts at internal improvements, pressed their credit as 
far as it will reasonably bearseven in peace and in the Union. 
If this severance and contest take place, so far from being 
able to borrow other large sums, the existinfrstock of those 
States would not command fifty cents in tll^laollar in the 
markets of the world. The only alternative "^ould be a 
resort to heavy taxation. Wliat would the share of Mary- 
land be? Shall I say a twelfth or fourteenth part of the 
whole sum required ? This would make Maryland's share 
about three and a half or four millions of dollars over and 
above her State expenses, and that to be raised in the mid.?t 
of war, convulsion and desolation. 

People of Baltimore I — People of Maryland ! — You have 



1 6 An Addrefs to the 

struggled hard to maintain the credit of the city of Balti- 
more, as well as of the State at large. In tliese efforts you 
have been most successful. If you leave the Union, what will 
become of the debt you owe, and of the pliglited faith of 
your city and State? Can you pay that debt and redeem 
your honor, and maintain at the same time war-expenses in 
an unnatural contest? Clearly you cannot. If you go out 
of our Union, you go into insolvency an<l disgrace. 

No two States of the Union are more closely bound to each 
other by the ties of ancient friendship, intermarriages, inter- 
changes of residence, similarity of institutions, and social, 
commercial and business relations, than Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. If Virginia stand firm by the Union she may rely 
upon it that Maryland will be found at her side, to the last 
man and tlie last dollar. With some opportunity to form a 
correct judgment, I venture to say to JQXL thai if Slaryland 
tahe her stand by the Constitution and^*^vernment our 
fathers gave us, for weal or for woe — Virginia wdl also be 
found at her side, sharing with her a common fortune and a 
common destiny. With the historic recollections which Vir- 
ginia so proudly cherishes, what else can she do, but stand 
by the Union ? She is its mother. It is the child of her 
courage and her intellect. Washington, a son of her, led 
our infant armies in battle. Madison, another of her sons, 
led the somewhat unpractised statesmanship of our country 
in the deliberations of the convention which formed our Con- 
stitution. Mai'shall, another of lier sons, presided long 
enough over^jjie judiciary of the Country to lay deep the 
foundations*mn^national jurisprudence, and to leave behind 
him a name and a fame which rank bim Avith the foremost 
jurists of the world. 

If Maryland and Virginia stand firm, so also will Ken- 
tucky, Virginia's daughter. The brave heart and eloquent 
lips of Henry Clay lie buried in Kentucky's soil. But his 
courage, his eloquence, his truth, his noble devotion to the 
Union of the States forever, have engraven themselves on the 



People of Maryland. 17 

heart of Kentucky, never to be erased. And this day, the 
oldest intellectual child of Henry Clay, the brave and noble 
Crittenden, stands forth before the country, the Nestor of our 
Senate, and the acknowledged living representative of tbat 
deep seated love of country, whicli, tliank God, still burns 
in the hearts of the great masses of our people. 

Tennessee also contains sacred ashes, intermixed, it is true, 
when in life, with many of the infirmities of our nature ; 
but true, absolutely and unflinchingly true in its lofty fidelity 
to the country. Neither the flash of the s word ,i8>th^ roar of 
cannon, wir-the threat of the rebel, ever startled iiis lofty soul 



from its nigh resolve, to maintain our Union and uphold 
our sacred flag, on every field, and in every contingency. 
With his sacred ashes resting in her soil — his form still 
familiar to her memory, and his bui-ning words still ringing 
in her ears, can Tennessee abandon the Union ? Never ! 
Never ! unless you tear away from her heart all her memo- 
ries of Andrew Jackson. And Ncirth Carolirui — Union-lov- 
ing, law-abiding, honest, faithful North Carolina — may we 
not count with certainty on her proving true to those patriotic 
instincts, for which she has ever been so dearly loved and 
so highly honored ! 

People of Maryland! pardon^ I pray you j^ardon, a faith- 
ful son, and none the less so that he acknowledges a higher 
and holier allegiance to his country, if he has ventured in 
this address beyond the modest proprieties of his humble 
station. If he dared hope tliat any word of his would give 
fresh resolution to any loyal American heart, or revive in 
fresher colors that true strength of a country — the patriotic 
love of her people — that hope would cheer him now; and 
if it prove true, would be to him a blessing and a consolation 
to the latest moment of his life. 

WILLIAM H. COLLINS. 
Baltimore, December 20, 1860. 






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